Karthigai Deepam is the oldest festival of
South
India , which is also the most elaborate and the most important
festival. Karthigai Deepam falls in the Tamil month of Karthigai when the
star Krithigai is on the ascendant and usually occurs on a full moon day.
This festival is also called as "the Festival of Lights".

Speciality Of The Month
The month of Karthigai is of special importance to Tamil people, which
derives its name from the star 'Krithigai'. Lord Shiva, with His divine
light, created Lord Muruga, in this month.

The Legend Behind The Festival
The popular legend behind the celebrations goes like this- Once upon a
time the Devas, the heavenly immortals, put in their best possible efforts
to have a complete Darshan of Lord Shiva. During this process Lord Brahma
took the form of a swan and Lord Vishnu in the form of a boar conducted an
extensive search in the sky and in the neither world did they find him.

Lord Shiva asked Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu to find out the exact
location of his head and his feet. Since Lord Shiva took a gigantic form,
they were not able to find him anywhere. Then Lord Shiva appeared before
them in the form of a flaming light whose ends cannot be defined on the
hill of Thiruvannamalai. Therefore, this festival is also known as
Annamalai Deepam. Here, a special torch is lighted on the zenith of the
hill and it is believed that Lord Shiva's Jyoti will be visible on this
day. The festival is celebrated in a special manner in Thiruvannamalai.

Lord Muruga took the form of six babies in a lake called "Saravana
Poigai". On this day, Parvati (his mother) united all his six forms
and so Lord Muruga has six faces. Special pujas are performed to Lord
Muruga.

Antiquity Of The Festival
Evidence from Tamil literature proves that this festival is one of the
oldest in the state. In ancient Tamil literature, the oldest available
work Tolkappiyam gives in concise verse form rules for Tamil grammar as
well as other topics. Scholars agree that this work dates back to 2,000 or
2,500 BC. In one of the formulae Tolkapiyar in his treatise uses the
phrase "like the lamp's flame pointing upwards." This phrase,
says one of the commentators, refers to the beacon lit on the Annamalai
Hill, which burns brightly without flickering in the wind, and flares up
towards the sky.

In another epic "Jeevakachintamani" written by a Jain poet,
Thiruthakka Thevar, the poet describes how people celebrated the Karthigai
Deepam festival. In other ancient Tamil literature of the Sangam period,
the Karthigai Deepam festival is described vividly.

In "Karnarpadu", the poet in one of the stanzas, describes how
in the Tamil month of Karthigai (is ii Kartik month!) during the time of
the Krithigai star, the lamps lit by people blossomed on earth, bringing
rain in its wake. In another Tamil work, the "Kalavazhi Narpadu"
dating back to the third Sangam period (after 1,000 BC) the poet says, "In
the battle the blood oozing out from the dead soldiers' bodies is like the
red coloured flame of the lamps lit during Karthigai Deepam festival".
In another Sangam work, "Pazhamozhi", in stanzas ending in
proverbs, one stanza ends with this phrase, "like the beacon on the
Hill."

A Longer Deepavali Celebration This festival is considered as the extension of the Deepavali festival.
In some houses, they double the number of lamps every day from the day of
Deepavali and this way, they end up with a number of lamps on the day of
Karthigai Deepam.

On
this day, people clean their houses and draw 'Kolams'
(Rangoli) in front of the house and also place some lamps on it. They
place the lamps ('Agal') in the puja room and light them and after the
'Deeparathana' (puja) the lamps are moved to the different places in the
house. The lamps glow all over the streets on this day.

Celebrations At Tiruvannamalai
Karthigai Deepam is the most important festival, when devotees walk round
the hill and worship the Bharani Deepam, which is lit early in the morning
on the final day of the festival, in the sanctum sanatorium. The Deepam is
lit in a gigantic, circular metal vessel that can hold about 2,000 litres
of ghee. It is five and half feet in height and five feet in diameter. For
making the wick, 30m of 'Ghada' cloth is used and is burnt with 2 kilos of
camphor on the night of 'Karthigai Pournami'. The Jyoti can be sighted
from nearly 35-km around.

The lighting of the beacon on the top of the hill is the culmination of
ten days of hectic activity in the temple town. The lighting of the Maha
Deepam will take place simultaneously with "Deeparadhanam" to
the five deities in the temple at the foot of the hill.